Adjustable support for railway-car side doors



Dec. 9, 1930. v. E. SISSON ADJUSTABLE SUPPORT FOR RAILWAY CAR SIDE DOORS Filed Jan. 30 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet i fnven z Dec. 9, 1930. v. E. SISSON' ADJUSTABLE SUPPORT FOR RAILWAY CAR SIDE DOORS Filed Jan. 30 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 iwenfora Patented Dec. 9, 1930 UNITED STATES vnw'ron E. srsson, or cnrcaeo, ILLINOIS, assrononro RAILWAY METAL rzaonocrs PATENT OFFICE COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE ADJUSTABLE SUPPORT FOR RAILWAY-CAB SIDE DOORS Application filed January 30, 1930. Serial No. 424,517.

The invention relates to railwaycar side doors which move horizontally from open to closed position over a support or a series of supports mounted upon the car body, which supports are provided with anti-friction rollers; or to such doors when suspended by hangers or supports provided with an antifriction roller from a track above the door or to such door when supported upon a track below the door by anti-friction rollers mounted in supports secured to the door, and the object of the invention is to provide means for vertical adjustment between each roller and the support, thereby making it possible to align the several rollers after the support or supports are fastened to the car; and/or to bodily raise or lower the door to obtain the desired clearances between the upper and lower margins of the door and the associated parts on the car body and/or to raise or lower the front or back edge of the door so that it or they will be parallel to the sealing and locking strips on the car body with which they coact to form weatherproofr ing means and stops.

It is desirable that the upper surfaces of the various rollers be in alignment so that the door will roll smoothly over them. It is customary to build cars with a camber in them, that is, the side walls (which are the load supporting means between the bolsters) are built so that when the car is new the middle portion of the side wall or truss is higher than the ends thereof. This camber may cause the upper surface of rollers to be out of alignment with a consequent rough rolling of the door. The object of this camber is twofold; first, to assure the compression members engaging their end pockets, and

" secondly, to allow for the sagging of the car after it has been in service, which sagging not only takes the original camber out of the car, but also sometimes causes the middle portion of the side wall or truss to be lower than the ends thereof. This condition causes the upper surfaces of the rollers to be out of alignment and consequently the door moves roughly over them.

\Vith my adjustable roller the tops of the various rollers can be maintained in alignment by lowering the center rollers when the side wall has a camber in it and by raising the middle rollers when the side wall has sagged.

Another object of the invention is to provide a support and a member attached thereto having a roller mounted thereon in such a manner as to provide means of adjustment between the roller and the support by altering the relation between the roller and the member.

' Another object of the invention is to provide means of adjusting the door relative to the front and back door stops by adjusting the vertical relation of the door and the rollers.

In the drawings:

Figs. 1 and 2 show a typical form of my adjusting means.

Figs. 3 and 4 show a typical application of my invention to a railway car.

Fig. 5 is a perspective detail of a support.

Figs. 6 and 7 show the invention applied to the car wherein the door is supported from above.

Figs. 8 and'9 show the invention applied to a car wherein the door is provided with rollers which run on a track.

10 shows a horizontal section through a typical railway car door and associated parts.

The preferred form of my invention comprises a member 2 having a plurality of pairs of apertures 33, 44, etc., with the apertures of each pair thereof spaced equi-distant apart. A roller 5 is mounted upon the member 2 with its axis 6 located at various distances between the several pairs of apertures; in other words, lines drawn between the centers of the respective pairs of apertures pass through a common point and the axis 6 of the roller is positioned at this point. A typical and practical illustration of my memher 2 is shown in Figs. 1 and 2, wherein the distance bet-ween each pair of apertures is 2 and the axis of the roller is positioned between the pairs of apertures as follows: (b) 1 plus (0) 1 equals 2 ((1) 11 1; plus (6) 1% equals 2 1 plus (g) 1%" equals 2 and (it) 11 1; plus 11 g equals 2 In the form illustrated the member 2 is provided with a journal 10 for the roller 5 and a threaded part 11 for the reception of a retaining nut 12. Any desired means, however, may be used to mount the roller upon the member.

Any convenient means of supporting the member 2 upon the car or door may be used, but in any event, such support is provided with at least one pair of apertures 13--18 spaced apart equi-distant to the respective pairs of apertures in the member (which in the illustration is 2 The member 2 is held to the support 1 1- by the usual bolt, rivet (15) or similar means. The relation between the roller 5 and the support 14 and the relation between the door 16 and the support 14, therefore, depends upon which of the several pairs of apertures in the member is positioned to register with the pair of apertures 1313 in the support so that the above mentioned relations may be varied or adjusted by removing the holding means 15, revolving the member 2 about the axis 6 of the roller and replacing the holding means 15 through another of the pairs of apertures in the member.

Figs. 3, d and 5 show the invention applied to a car wherein the door 16 is supported by a plurality of supporting brackets 14 mounted upon the side sill 81 of the car. The supporting bracket 14 is provided with a pair of apertures 13-13 for the holding means 15 for the member 2 upon which the roller 5 is mounted. A track, or runner 35, is secured to the bottom part of the door and runs over the several rollers. Fig. 5 is a detail of one of the supporting brackets 14. Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-8 of Fig. 4.

Figs. 6 and 7 show the invention applied to a car where the door 40 is supported from above by hangers 11 upon which the adjusting member 2 is mounted. The roller 5 is journaled upon the member 2 and runs upon a track 43 secured to the car above the door and door opening. Fig. 7 is a section on line 77 of Fig. 6.

Figs. 8 and 9 show the invention applied to a car wherein the rollers 5 are mounted upon the door 45 so as to run upon a track a6 secured to the side sill 31 of the car by brackets l7. The adjusting member 2 is interposed between the door 45 and the roller 5. Fig. 8 is a section on line 8-8 of Fig. 9.

Fig. 10 is a horizontal section through a typical railway car wherein the usual parts of the car are shown, such as front door post 50; rear door post 51; side wall 52; front stop and sealing strip 53; rear stop or rear sealing strip 54; door 55; front stile 56; rear stile 57 and fillers 58.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the preferred form of the invent-ion, though it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as it is obvious that various modifications thereof, within the scope of the claim, will occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

An adjustable supporting device for a railway car side door comprising a support element, a member element having a roller mounted thereon, one of said elements having a plurality of pairs of apertures therein substantially circumferentially arranged around a point, the apertures of each of said pairs of apertures being equi-distant apart, the axis of said roller being located eccentric to said point, and means passing through said apertures to hold the elements together.

VINTON E. SISSON. 

